Well, last Friday we left for Wisconsin. Our plan was to leave at 8 am but we probably hit the road closer to 10 am. It worked out to stop in Lamoni, Iowa for lunch at Pizza Shack. We found this place online when we went to Iowa to buy our Shasta camper. As we rolled into town, there were Graceland University signs which rang a bell in my memory. My best friend Kim's parents met at college there! After a quick text it was confirmed and they recommended the Pizza Shack. Little did they know we were parked outside. Since it was pretty good & Nola was due to eat, we stopped a second time. There are lots of Amish around too so it's exciting to show Louis the horses.
Driving...
Pizza Shack
Joe walked Louis down to the park to get some energy out before the next car ride.
Joe needed to get some energy out too. Does this picture make you believe we evolved from apes?
We were headed to the Wisconsin Dells to meet Joe's family. It should be an 8 hour drive so we decided to break up the trip by leaving a few days early. We met our friends Adam, Heidi and baby Sam in Galena, Illinois. We had to stop so many times for the kids that we couldn't stop for photo ops. Joe got pretty good at taking them while I was driving (see the Illinois sign below). This leg of our trip was supposed to take 6 hours but we stopped 4 times to feed Nola. We left at 10 am and got there around 8:30 pm. It was a long day but they fell asleep for the last part as we drove up the Mississippi River. It was beautiful. I love road trips like that where you love the scenery and find the perfect soundtrack. We put Coldplay on the ipod which was perfect.
Joe and Adam were college roommates but he lives Chicago now. We decided to rent a house together and were upgraded twice. The first house had a broken AC unit and the second had a dead animal in the chimney. We ended up getting a big four bedroom house with two screened in porches, a deck and a hot tub backing up to woods. The house was really nice but whenever I stay in places like this I just want to redecorate. I seriously could make the cutest vacation home. I just need some extra funds to buy one!
Right when we got to the house I spilled two pounds of oatmeal on the floor. I was so mad because it was our breakfast for the whole trip and it's the stuff I order online. We couldn't find a dust pan so we improvised. Adam & Heidi got their later and we had a few beers before heading off to bed.
Saturday morning was rainy so we headed into town later for lunch. Galena is a quaint town with 19th century architecture. I've figured out why a town this cute isn't as great as a European town. It's the cars. Lots of those European streets are blocked off from traffic which makes them a little more charming.
We liked Galena but most of the shopping was cheesy gift shops. We liked the antiques and food stores like the popcorn shop pictured. You could sample hot caramel corn and buy any flavor you could imagine. There were also lots of soda shops.
Joe found a Corvair on the strip. He has a '65 in our garage that doesn't run. We had our first date in it but I feel like it just takes up space now. If it looked like this one I might be a little more excited about having it around.
There was a cool blacksmith shop we checked out.
We had lunch at the local brewery. It was pretty good. Here I am ready to drink my beer flight. What a great mom I am. I did share with Joe.
Baby Sam was pretty excited about the beer too!
These were taken later at the house. We were wondering where she gets this concerned face...
Then I found this picture of Joe and it became clear.
We got home after shopping and went to the pool for a while. It was Nola's first dip. This pool was great for Louis because he could touch the bottom the whole time.
Sunday morning we got up and went to the farmer's market. Heidi had to stay back for Sam's morning nap. They didn't have much but we bought some pickles, beets, radishes and lamb sausages.
Little did Louis know, he was looking at pictures of the animals we would be eating for dinner.
The joy of seeing a dragonfly.
That day we went back into town for a delicious Italian lunch. We sat outside and it started raining on us. Plus Nola was fussy. This was my view when I was nursing her while the rain falling from the umbrella was soaking the back of my hair and shirt. I always remember the days before kids at times like this.
We said goodbye to the Dubois family and spent a little more time sight seeing in Galena.
The view looking back at downtown.
He was a little unsure about this.
The trolleys were a hit.
We did mostly drive-by tours since we needed to get to Wisconsin and the kids had just about enough by the afternoon.
We finally made it that night but were exhausted! The vacation has been busy and our phone/Internet service hasn't been great so I'm behind on the trip. Tonight we are actually back in Iowa at a working farm but I'll update on Wisconsin next.
